Conquering the Sinnoh League
by Gazorscreen
Summary: In this story Ash and his mom live in the Sinnoh Region. Ash turns 10 and heads off on an adventure with Dawn. Disclaimer: I do not own the Pokemon franchise. All characters and Pokemon belong to the Pokemon Company, Gamefreak, and Nintendo. Note: 90% of the plot is completely different from the anime.
1. Ready… Set… Adventure!

**Chapter 1: Ready… Set… Adventure!**

The sun slowly crawled up the morning sky radiating its brightness to create a spectacular and colorful sky. The world around began to wake up in response to the fresh feeling of a brand new day. The sunlight peered through the blinds of a ten year old boy's bedroom window illuminating the room with heavenly light. Next to the bed on the floor was a large dragon type pokemon which was still fast asleep. The boy was awakened by his mother calling his name from downstairs telling him to get up. "Ash get up it's already 8 o'clock, you need to get Professor Rowan's lab in half an hour!" his mother shouted from below. Ash finally sat and bent over the edge of the bed and lightly shook his pokemon friend to wake up. "Rise and shine Garchomp, today's my tenth birthday which means you and I are going on a journey to become the toughest team we can be. Garchomp opened his eyes and stretched itself awake. "Garrr" said the dragon while it nuzzled his head against his human friend. Ash went into the bathroom to get ready while Garchomp flew out through the open window to enjoy the fresh air. Downstairs Ash's mother was cooking breakfast for him and Garchomp. It didn't take long for Ash to finish getting ready as his footsteps were soon heard running down stairs in excitement.

"Good morning honey, how did you sleep last night?" his mother asked.

"I had a very nice sleep; it felt like I was sleeping on a cloud," Ash beamed at his mother

"Well you and Garchomp better hurry up and eat because professor Rowan is expecting you two at his lab in fifteen minutes," his mother reminded him. "And speaking of professor Rowan have you decided which starter pokemon you want to choose," Ash nearly feel off his chair when he heard what his mother said and Garchomp who was eating his pokemon food nearby nearly chocked. "Starter pokemon! What do you mean?" "I don't need a starter I have Garchomp already," Ash said. His mother promptly replied "Honey Garchomp doesn't count as a starter pokemon despite the fact you raised it ever since it hatched from its egg eight years ago. So this means you need to choose Turtwig, Chimchar, or Piplup for your starter."

Ash thought about this for a few seconds as he chowed down on his toast. All this time he thought Garchomp would qualify to be his starter but he didn't argue with the facts. "Oh well," he thought out loud. "At least I'll have two pokemon by the time I leave Sandgem town." Ash and Garchomp were almost done with their breakfast when the doorbell rang. Ash's mother went to answer door. "Hi Mrs. Ketchum! Has Ash left yet?" a girl standing outside asked. "No not yet, he woke up late," his mother said. "Come on in Dawn," said Mrs. Ketchum. "Ash, Dawn's here," she told her son who was now putting his plate in the sink having finished his breakfast. "Hi, Dawn, you all ready to go," he asked. She nodded with enthusiasm.

Ash picked up his backpack which he had packed the day before with all the essentials he would need on the road. He walked outside with Dawn and Garchomp closely behind "Well mom, we need to get going now so see ya later!" Ash said in happiness. "Call me as soon as you get to Jubilife city," she told them "I'll give Dawn's mother the news once you get there." The two nodded for a yes and took off running with Garchomp closely flying behind them.


	2. The First Wild Encounters

**Hey guys! I should have mentioned this last time but this is the very first story I have written in my life so please be considerate with my efforts. If you notice any grammar or spelling mistakes or have a problem with the plot be sure to let me know and I will do my best to fix those problems in the future chapters. If you have a suggestion for the story by all means put that into your reviews as well. I am open to all suggestions. Also some reviewers had said that I needed to start a new line for each dialogue but by the time I saw those reviews I was more than halfway through this chapter so I will make sure I change that for the next chapter. Anyways I'll stop talking and let you read. I hope you guys like it. Please review.**

**Chapter 2: The First Wild Encounters**

Ash, Garchomp, and Dawn had finally arrived at the front door of Professor Rowan's lab. Dawn knocked on the door and waited until one the professor's assistants opened it.

"Ahh, good morning you two, Professor Rowan has been expecting you," he said. He led them through the hallway until they arrived at the room where there was a lab. "Professor Rowan, the two trainers you've been expecting have just now arrived," his assistant told him. The professor looked up from his work and greeted them with appreciation. "Welcome you two," he said in a low voice. "You are now considered pokemon trainers and each new trainer receives one of the three starter pokemon, a pokedex, six pokeballs, and a badge or ribbon case. The three starter pokemon that I hand out to new trainers are the following: the fire type, Chimchar, the grass type, Turtwig, and the water type, Piplup. So which pokemon will you choose?" He asked.

"Dawn you should go first since you don't have a pokemon yet," Ash kindly coaxed his friend. "Alright then! I'll choose Piplup," she stated. "Pi piplup," said the blue penguin pokemon in happiness. "In that case I'll choose Chimchar," Ash quickly decided. The whole time Turtwig was busy eating and didn't even realize what was going on. Professor Rowan gave Ash and Dawn their pokedexes, pokeballs, a badge case for Ash and a Ribbon case for Dawn. "Good luck you two," he said affirmatively. "And call me from time to time," he told them. They nodded for a yes and started their journey.

Ash and Dawn have been walking for about two hours and still no sign of a single pokemon. Dawn asked "Ash aren't you going to put Garchomp in his pokeball?" Ash replied "I tried that yesterday but Garchomp hates being in its pokeball. You know pokemon have personalities too and that was Garchomp's personality." Dawn understood what he meant. Another few boring minutes ticked by with no pokemon appearances, but that changed when they heard a patch of grass rustling nearby. "Dawn wait!" Ash whispered loudly. Dawn stopped in her tracks and looked at the place Ash was looking at. "What?" she whispered back. "I think I heard a pokemon," he replied. Sure enough he was right after a few seconds of waiting a Larvitar appeared from behind the tall grass, which was strange because Larvitar usually live in the mountains, not in an open field of tall grass. "Awesome, it's a Larvitar," Ash cried in excitement. Ash's loud voice startled the little creature which was about to run away. "Okay this one's mine," Ash announced to Dawn. "Go Chimchar use scratch on Larvitar." _Chimchar got within striking range of Larvitar and landed a few back to back scratches. _Now, Chimchar use ember. _Chimchar fired a series of fire bullets towards Larvitar sending it flying into a nearby tree. _Larvitar struggled to regain its momentum. Ash saw this as his chance and threw a pokeball at it. The pokeball opened and caught Larvitar and landed on the ground with a soft thump. The pokeball shook a few times before it dinged. Ash jumped in joy and yelled "I just caught my very first pokemon." "Garrr, Chimchaaaar!'' Chimchar and Garchomp also yelled in joy at Ash's first successful catch.

All this time Dawn was staring in awe as Ash made his first catch seem surprisingly easy. If she wants to win the Jubilife pokemon contest she would have to catch at least one pokemon before then and begin work on her first appeals round combination move.

"Well we better get going if we want to catch more pokemon," Ash said.

That comment snapped Dawn out of her dazed trans and brought her back to reality. "You're right Ash I need to catch a pokemon so let's go," Dawn said.

The two of them resumed their walk and for about fifteen minutes they haven't come across another pokemon which made Dawn nervous. Dawn was thinking in her head, "my mom was a top coordinator in her days as a pokemon trainer and I want to be the best I can be, maybe even better than her, but I haven't caught a single pokemon yet and the Jubilife contest is coming up soon. I better step it up a notch."

Piplup who was in Dawn's arms noticed her awkward silence and chirped loudly at her asking her what's wrong. "PI PIPLUP PIP!"

Dawn snapped back into reality once more. "Huh?" "Oh Piplup, I'm alright, no need to worry," Dawn told the penguin pokemon.

She turned towards Ash and asked him if they could take a break to eat lunch. "Ash, we should take a lunch break. What do you say?"

Ash responded back in agreement. "Sure! And while we're eating, maybe a pokemon will appear so you can catch it."

Dawn brought out the sandwiches that her mom had packed for her and Ash, while Ash set up the picnic spot. Garchomp dug through Ash's backpack for his food and offered some to Chimchar and Larvitar, but they seemed more interested in the Pinap berries in a nearby tree. A few minutes had passed by until there was a soft rustling in the nearby grass. No one noticed this interruption except for Piplup who ran towards the noise. Dawn noticed Piplup running off and stopped him in his tracks.

"Hey Piplup! where are you going?" "Come back here, I don't want you to get lost," Dawn yelled in worry. Piplup turned around and told Dawn that there was a pokemon nearby. "Piplup Piplup, Pip!" cried Piplup pointing to where he heard the noise.

"You heard something over there?" Dawn asked. Piplup nodded for a yes.

All of a sudden a small brown furred pokemon popped out of the tall grass showing its cute face. "Vee evee" the pokemon cried. Ash saw the pokemon and ran over in excitement.

"Hey it's an Eevee! Dawn you should catch it would make a perfect pokemon for your appeal rounds in a pokemon contest." Dawn agreed.

"Alright Piplup, ready to battle?" Dawn questioned Piplup. Piplup simply answered by getting into a fighting stance.

"Okay Piplup use Peck," Dawn called out. Piplup made a mad dash for Eevee extending its beak. The wild Eevee evaded by jumping to side and dug underground. Ash saw this and knew what Eevee was up to and warned Dawn.

"Dawn lookout, Eevee knows the move dig. It can come behind Piplup or from underneath."

Dawn thanked Ash for the advice and kept a close eye at the ground near Piplup for any sign of Eevee's underground movement. Dawn saw a few pebbles shaking to left of Piplup and told Piplup to jump.

"Piplup….Eevee is coming at you from the left, jump as high as you can," Dawn called out.

Piplup jumped up and half a second later Eevee dug back above ground to strike but it was too late. Dawn took this as an opportunity to strike.

"Piplup, use bubble now!" Piplup shot an array of bright blue bubbles at Eevee knocking it off balance. Dawn quickly threw a pokeball at it. The ball captured Eevee and shook for about ten seconds before finally giving a ding. Dawn and Piplup leapt up into the air cheerfully.

"Piplup! We did it! We caught our first pokemon friend!" Dawn yelled hugging the little blue penguin.

"Congratulations Dawn! You caught your first pokemon," Ash said beaming at her strangely quick capture.

"Thanks Ash, I actually thought I was going blow my first try but it worked," Dawn replied.

Well now that you caught your first pokemon lets celebrate by eating lunch and then it's off to Jubilife city. The two sat down and ate their lunch alongside their pokemon.

When lunch was over they packed their gear up and continued their trek to Jubilife city, which would be easy if they go through Bewildered forest, but there was only one catch. That forest is filled with Stantler that love to mess with trainers by hallucinating them. But it was a risk they would have to take to get Jubilife city in time for Dawns first pokemon contest.

Ash and Dawn once again resumed their journey towards Jubilife city. The party of two and their pokemon began walking down the hilly dirt path. A few exciting moments went by as they walked until they were rudely interrupted. Something big knocked Ash, Dawn, and their pokemon off their feet causing them to hit the ground hard. Something or someone from behind snickered mischievously.

They turned around to see who or what did that only to completely surprised.

**AND BAM! CLIFFHANGER! You guys will have to wait and find out what kind of trouble Dawn and Ash just got into. Feel free to guess who or what diverted them from their journey. I would like to add one more thing. My computer screen is having problems so my dad will be shipping it somewhere to get it fixed, so I won't have my computer for about ten days. I don't when he will be sending it so hang tight. The next chapter could take up to two to three weeks to update because of this issue. But don't worry I will still work on my story whether or not I have my computer. Please review.**


	3. Rude Interruptions

**Hey guys, I haven't sent my computer to be fixed yet so I thought I would squeeze in one more chapter before then. For the sake of formatting this chapter and all that follow will be in script form. This will make it easier on me. I would also like to point out that I have put up a poll on the very top of my profile page. By voting you can choose which pokemon Dawn will capture next. The poll will be open for up to six days. Please keep in mind that I am giving you guys a chance to pick a pokemon for Dawn. If not many people vote then I will choose one to my liking. Also, this chapter will have more dialogue so it will longer than the previous chapters. This chapter will reveal an evil team and one rival. I'll stop rambling now. Please review. **

**Rude Interruptions**

Ash and Dawn turned around to see who attacked them only to be completely shocked at the trio standing before them. There was a young man with purple hair, a young woman with pink hair and a Meowth. These guys were part of the world famous evil team known as Team Rocket who is known to steal strong pokemon from trainers in order to build a pokemon army in attempts to control the world.

Ash: It's Team Rocket!

Dawn: Hey! Why did you attack us and what do you want!?

Jessie: Prepare for trouble

James: And make it double

Jessie: To protect the world from devastation

James: To unite all peoples within our nation

Jessie: To denounce the evils of truth and love

James: To extend our reach to the stars above

Jessie: Jessie

James: James

Jessie: Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light

James: Surrender now or prepare to fight

Meowth: Meowth dat's right

Jessie: Alright hand over that Garchomp and that Piplup and do it now!

Ash: Yeah, like we'll listen to you!

James: Why you little twerp, no one talks back to Team Rocket! Go Luxray. Use Dark Pulse on that Garchomp. (Luuuuuuuuuxxxxxxrrrraaaaaaaaaaayyyyy!)

Jessie: Go Drapion, wrap your tail around that Piplup and then use Cross Poison. (Draaapppppp)

Ash: Garchomp fight back with Dragon Pulse and then use Draco Meteor. (Gaaaaaaaaarrr)

Dawn: Piplup use peck.

Despite its efforts Piplup could not land its attack on Drapion. Drapion's tail was wrapped around way too tight.

Dawn: Eevee, come out and help Piplup. Use dig

Jessie: Foolish little girl you think that's going to stop me! Drapion use Poison Tail on Eevee as soon as it pops out.

Eevee dug back above ground only to struck by a powerful Poison Tail. The blow knocked Eevee out in an instant.

Dawn: Eevee no!

All of a sudden Garchomp's Draco Meteor rained down from above striking both Luxray and Drapion. Drapion loosened its grip on Piplup allowing it to break free.

Dawn: Piplup! Are you okay?

The little pokemon weakly replied for a yes. (Piiiiplup)

Meowth: This isn't over! Check out my Fury Swipes!

Ash: Garchomp wait for the right moment and then strike hard with Brick Break.

Garchomp waited until Meowth came with in wing's length and unleashed a super powered Brick Break to Meowth's charm.

Meowth: Ooowwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! That Hurt!

Ash: Garchomp finish them off. Use Hyperbeam!

Garchomp busted out a large beam of orange colored energy hitting Team Rocket full in the face and sent them flying into the sky.

Jessie: (screaming from the air) Wait! We're not done yet!

James: We've only begun!

Meowth: Deal with blabber mouths cause we're blasting off!

Team Rocket soon vanished into the sky with a strange twinkle.

Ash: Finally we got rid of those jerks. They wasted over twenty minutes of our time that we could have used to get through Bewildered Forest.

Dawn: Not only that but both Piplup and Eevee are very weak and there's no pokemon center around here.

Dawn sighed and retrieved her pokemon back into their pokeballs knowing that was the only for them to heal now.

Ash: We better get going now.

Dawn: Right then. Let's go.

Dawn and Ash continued towards Bewildered forest which was now within sight. Ash and Dawn were conversing about their battle they had with Team Rocket. Ash was giving Dawn advice on how to battle. After what seemed like fifteen minutes they entered Bewildered Forest.

Ash: We have to be careful not to look at the antlers of the Stantler or else we could get hallucinations.

Ash and Dawn slowly made their way through the forest until they reached the other side. They were about to exit the forest when they heard a piercing roar. (RRRIIIIIIIIINNNNGGGGG!). An Ursaring came out of nowhere blocking their exit. It was mad that Ash and Dawn invaded its territory. Ursaring raised its arm until it glowed white.

Ash: Look out! It's using Hammer Arm! Duck now!

Ash and Dawn ducked quickly avoiding Ursaring's hammer arm.

Ash: Garchomp, take care of this. Use Dragon Rage!

Garchomp fired a blue ball of energy from its mouth at Ursaring. Ursaring fought back using Focus Blast. Both balls of energy struck each other with a bang covering the field with smoke.

Ash: Garchomp use Draco Meteor and then use Earthquake.

Garchomp quickly followed Ash's orders trapping Ursaring between a Draco Meteor and an Earthquake. Ursaring sustained an immense amount of damage yet it still had energy to burn. It came at Garchomp with full speed while powering up another Hammer Arm. Ash saw this coming and ordered Garchomp to use another attack.

Ash: Garchomp use Rock Wrecker and aim it Ursaring's feet.

Garchomp blasted a few rocks towards Ursaring striking it hard multiple times to its legs. Ursaring cried out in pain before collapsing to the ground. Ash threw a pokeball at it hoping to catch it. The pokeball opened and sucked Ursaring into it. The ball shook for almost a minute before finally giving in.

Dawn: Wow! That was a really hard catch.

Ash: Yeah…And I thought I was going to blow it. This pokemon is very strong and smart. It will be useful to take on tough opponents.

All this time another trainer close by was watching this incident and judging Ash's technique.

Unknown Trainer: (to himself) Hmmph! Not bad, but can you defeat me?

The trainer made himself visible and walked towards Dawn and Ash.

Unknown Trainer: Hey….. You with the Garchomp!

Ash looked up to see a trainer walking toward him with a judging look on his face. The trainer wore a blue shirt and coat with gray pants. His hair was similar in color to James's hair. He also wore a strapped back over his back.

Unknown Trainer: Hi, the name's Paul and I'm from Veilstone city.

Ash: Hi I'm Ash Ketchum and this my friend Dawn. We're from Twinleaf town.

Paul: Yeah..so look, I saw you capture that Ursaring just now and you did fair job of catching it, but that only proves so much. I challenge you to a one on one battle. You up for it.

Ash didn't even give it a thought.

Ash: You bet! I never back down from a challenge.

Paul: Good! Like I said this is a one on one battle so first pokemon down losses the battle.

Ash: Alright go Garchomp!

Garchomp stepped forward and got into a fighting stance.

Paul: Torterra! Stand by for battle!

A humongous turtle with a tree on its shell emerged from inside the pokeball giving a low and loud roar. (Toooorrrtteerrrraaa!).

Paul: Okay Ash, you go first.

Ash: Okay Garchomp dig.

Garchomp dug into the ground and vanished within seconds.

Paul smirked at this.

Paul: What a foolish move. Torterra use Magnitude.

Torterra stood a little on its hind legs and was about hit the ground with a boom but it was stopped short by Garchomp's dig from underneath. Garchomp flew out of the ground tossing Torterra high into the air.

Ash: Excellent Garchomp!

Paul: (wide eyed) Whaaat!? How did Garchomp dig back above ground so quickly.

Ash: That's because Garchomp's been practicing that move for over seven years. All that practice significantly improved its speed. Garchomp use Giga Impact.

Garchomp leapt high into the air, tucked its wings in and charged right at Torterra with immense energy. The excess energy had turned Garchomp into a deadly weapon.

Paul: Torterra use Leaf Storm.

Torterra blasted a torrent of leafs at Garchomp, but Garchomp's excess speed allowed it fly right through it. The Giga Impact's energy fused with the leafstorm turning the leaf storm around. Paul was shocked. Garchomp was now coming at Torterra at full speed with Giga Impact and Leaf Storm combo.

Paul: Torterra, stay strong!

But it was useless. Garchomp struck with tremendous force knocking Torterra out on the spot.

Paul was devastated. He had underestimated Ash's skill by a longshot. He sighed and returned Torterra back into its pokeball.

Paul: (to himself) How did he beat me? He looks like a new trainer… how did he beat me?

Ash: Paul that was a great battle.

Paul: How did you beat me so quickly? Aren't you a new trainer.

Ash: I am a new trainer. I guess I forgot to mention this earlier but I am the younger brother of Gavin Ketchum.

Paul nearly fainted when he heard that.

Paul: No way.

Ash: Yeah… People say my brother is the toughest of the Sinnoh Elite Four. So you can understand that I've been watching my brother battles since I was very young. All of that experience had molded me into a skilled trainer.

Paul: Well, in that case, you are worthy as my rival. So where are you guys going now?

Dawn: Were going to Jubilife city for my very first Pokemon Contest and from there to Oreburgh city for Ash's gym battle.

Paul: I see. Ash, the Oreburgh gym leader was tricky for me to beat but he'll be no challenge for you.

Ash: When did you challenge the Oreburgh Gym?

Paul: A couple days ago. I won my battle but barely made it through. I came out here to train my pokemon and that's when I found you two.

Dawn: I get it now?

Ash: So how many gym badges do you have Paul?

Paul: Only two. The Coal badge from Oreburgh and the Forest badge from Eterna.

Ash: Well then, I guess I have some catching up to do. So we better be going now. Next time we see each other we'll have another battle.

Paul: Right then. See ya.

Ash and Dawn: See ya later.

Ash and Dawn continued on to Jubilife city where Dawn will compete in her first Pokemon Contest. As they walked away Paul looked on admiring his rival.

Paul: (thinking to himself) That trainer is my first true rival.

**Alright I finally got this chapter out of the way. If anyone was wondering why Ash's skill is set very high in my version, it's because I was tired of seeing Ash's skills being reset for each new series in the anime so I decided to make him strong from the start. Even though it seems like Paul is a weak trainer he is still just as powerful as he was in the anime. I will try my best to preserve Paul's attitude and power. In the next chapter Dawn will compete in the Jubilife Pokemon Contest. Also there will be a new main character that will meet Ash and Dawn and one more rival will be revealed. The next chapter may take up to ten to fifteen days so hang tight. Please vote on my poll and please review? Thanks**


	4. The City of Life

**Well it's time for chapter four. I need to get one thing cleared away before I let you guys read. I know I said that I will write every chapter from now on in script format but I am changing back to the original formatting. I felt that the story lost its potential after using the script format. I thought it would be easier but boy was I wrong. Please bear with me, as I am new to writing stories. The first and second chapters had a lot of detail which made it interesting for some people so I will go back to the old formatting. In this chapter you can expect to see one more rival and one more main character that will join Ash and Dawn on their journey. Also the poll will be open for 4 more days so please go and vote for two pokemon you think Dawn should capture next. So far Feebas is in the lead. I hope you guys enjoy chapter four. Please review. **

**The City of Life**

_Television-(Good evening this is Rhonda from Sinnoh Now, live at Freedom Hall where the annual Jubilife City Pokemon Contest will take place tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. I am here with Nurse Joy of the Jubilife City Pokemon Center. Nurse Joy, what exciting sites are expecting at tomorrow's contest?) _

_(Joy: I expect to see many wonderful performances from all the hardworking and gifted young coordinators that will compete tomorrow. I also expect to see elegance, team work, and trainers being in sync with their pokemon.) _

_(Wonderful! Well then we'll be seeing tomorrow at the contest at the judges' panel. Have a nice day!)_

_(Thank you.)_

_(Trainers and fans, you don't want to miss this year's Jubilife City Pokemon Contest cause it's going to lively) _The man holding the mike for Rhonda accidently dropped it on her head. Rhonda turned around and snapped at him in anger._ (If you don't cut that out I will…) _The camera man knew the argument was going to get ugly and turned off the camera.

**At a Pokemon center a few miles away from Jubilife City at 3:30 p.m.**

Dawn turned her head away from the T.V. screen and faced the window of the Pokemon Center looking out into the world. Her eyes had a beautiful sparkle as she thought about her first contest being held in Jubilife City tomorrow.

"Wow! I can't believe that tomorrow is my first contest ever. I can't wait. We're going to…."

Dawn didn't finish her sentence and her face suddenly turned from happiness to worry. She had just realized that she forgot to do something very important, something that will affect her chances of advancing to the second round of the Pokemon Contest.

Dawn smacked her forehead and started panicking. "Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh nooooooo!

That last scream startled everyone in the pokemon center including the sleeping Snorlax who jumped a little at Dawn's loud shriek. Ash looked at her and rushed to calm her down.

"Whoa, Dawn, are you okay?"

"No I'm not; in fact I'm the complete opposite."

"Why'd you freak out like that?" Ash asked with a concerned look.

Dawn who was still panicking replied back. "The contest is tomorrow and I total forgot about my combo for my appeals round." "Oh how can I be so forgetful?"

"Look on the bright side Dawn. You have over twelve hours until the contest starts, you can use this time to practice," Ash advised her.

Dawn looked at Ash and knew he had a point and looked at everyone else who was staring at her in shock. Dawn felt bad that she had rudely disrupted everyone around her.

"I'm sorry I freaked out like that," she said softly facing the other people in the pokemon center who then forgave her.

Dawn looked at Ash again and asked him a favor. "Ash, if you don't mind could I have a few hours to myself and my Pokemon? We don't have much time left and we need to come up with a combo. I'll call you as soon as I'm ready. Okay?"

"Sure, of course you can Dawn. In the meantime I'll plan out a strategy for my Oreburgh gym battle. "Oh and one more thing, you can use your pokedex to see what moves your pokemon know. That feature can come in handy at a time like this."

Dawn nodded in approval and thanked Ash. She turned around and hurried out of the Pokemon Center. She ran to an open field nearby where she can practice. She took out two pokeballs from her pocket and tossed them up into the air. Eevee and Piplup emerged from inside the balls and landed gently on the cool soft earth.

She took out her pokedex and scanned Piplup first. "Let's see… Piplup knows Bubble, Tackle, Peck, Bide, and Bubble Beam." Then she scanned Eevee. "Eevee knows the moves Dig, tackle, takedown, and Sand Attack." Dawn wasn't happy that she didn't have many options for a combo.

"Let's see," Dawn said walking around trying to come up with good ideas. "I can have Piplup use Bubble and then Peck to create a sparkling sensation," she thought out loud.

"I won't know if it will work until I try." "Okay Piplup use Bubble" Piplup squirted out an array of sparkling bubbles from its beak. "Now use peck to pop them." Piplup jumped all over the place frantically trying to burst the bubbles and ended up bending over panting very hard.

Dawn thought in her head. "Maybe that wasn't such a good idea." Dawn said to herself, "Piplup thanks for trying."

Piplup responded back weakly but proud of his attempts.

"I'll try again with Eevee," she announced.

As soon as it heard its name, Eevee jumped up and down with a rush of excitement.

"Okay Eevee let's use dig first and then jump back up through the hole using Sand Attack while spinning," Dawn called out to her furry pokemon friend.

Eevee dug into the ground and vanished within seconds and a few seconds later it emerged out of the hole spinning while using Sand Attack. The spin created a vortex of sand around Eevee camouflaging it. The combo wasn't quite appealing as Dawn thought it would be but at least she got the bad ideas out of the way.

Meanwhile, Ash was hard at work back at the Pokemon center sharpening Chimchar's, Larvitar's, and Ursaring's speed and attack strength. Garchomp was acting as Ash's assistant trainer showing the rookie pokemon how to effectively dodge attacks. While watching his pokemon train Ash remembered something his brother Gavin had told him years ago.

**Flashback:**

Young Ash: I don't get it! Gible and I practice a lot but I keep losing whenever we use Draco Meteor. For once I would like to win with a powerful attack.

Gavin: Ash, battling isn't all about power. There's also strategy and observation that is incorporated with it.

Young Ash: But when I see you battle all I see is power and you make it look so easy.

Gavin: Ash, listen to me carefully. It takes practice to become a successful trainer. The very first thing you need to focus on is strategy and to be in sync with your pokemon. To do that you need to keep a careful eye on your pokemon's status and your opponent's pokemon's status at all times. Once you've mastered that, power will come to you naturally. Trust me, if you observe close enough you will see that your pokemon will sign to you when they are ready to move onto the higher ups, but until then you need focus on strategy and observation. Do you understand?

Young Ash: Yes…I understand.

**End of Flashback**

Ash had noticed that his Chimchar was getting stronger and fast too. Ash thought about it for a second and decided to teach Chimchar a new move.

"Chimchar, how would like to learn a new move buddy?" Ash asked the little orange monkey.

"Chimmy chimmy char char!" sang Chimchar while bouncing up and down.

"Ok Chimchar, I will teach you the move Flamethrower," Ash said.

Chimchar was delighted at the sound of that.

"Okay so listen carefully. To use Flamethrower you must focus all the heat energy in your body into the core of your stomach until you have enough energy that will make your chest puff up. Then you need to release it all at once."

Chimchar understood what his trainer was teaching him and he couldn't wait to try it out.

"Give it a try Chimchar," Ash urged.

Chimchar focused like he had never done before and forced all the energy into one spot. His chest soon puffed and he knew it was time let it out. Chimchar opened its mouth and fired away. The Flame was strong for about two seconds but then it extinguished. Chimchar was a bit disappointed that the flame didn't last for long.

"Chimchar, you did it the right way and even though it didn't last for long it was still very strong. Don't worry with enough practice you will soon breathe a good flame," Ash told his Chimchar.

Chimchar looked at Ash and jumped up and hugged him for understanding. Ash, Chimchar, and the rest of his pokemon had hearty laugh.

"Hey guys! Over here," a voice called out.

Ash turned around to see Dawn and Piplup running towards them with happy expressions on their faces.

Once Dawn and Piplup got to Ash they told him the good news.

"Ash! You wouldn't believe it! It took us a long time but we finally found the perfect combination for our first appeals round. Show them Piplup!" Dawn said in a cheerful tone.

Piplup jumped high into the air spinning like a top while using Bubble Beam. The bubbles circled Piplup multiple times before colliding creating beautiful mini sparkled fireworks.

Ash's jaw dropped wide open. He was amazed that Dawn had come up with such an awesome move for a beginner.

"Dawn…how did you…come up..."

"With such a good move," Dawn completed the sentence for him.

"Yeah, that's what I was going to say," Ash replied.

"Well I had Piplup practice a lot spinning which could be used for dodging, but then I remembered a combo my mom used with her Glameow and Umbreon in a double performance. They used a double spinning Dark Pulse and when the two attacks collide they radiated colorful rainbow waves through the air. I figured if Piplup used a spinning Bubble Beam that the bubbles would eventually hit each other and pop creating bubble fireworks."

Ash replied approvingly, "see Dawn there was no need to worry after all."

"You're right, thanks for the advice Ash. Anyway we need to leave now if we're going to get to Jubilife City by sundown.

Ash agreed and they soon packed and left the Pokemon Center and trekked off to Jubilife City.

**30 minutes later. The time is 8:30 p.m. Location: Jubilife City**

"Wow!" Dawn exclaimed examining the city sights, smells, and sounds that surrounded her. "We finally made it to Jubilife City."

"Yeah and just in time for dinner," Ash responded rubbing his hungry stomach. "I'm starving, let's eat first," Ash said urging Dawn into an All You Can Eat Buffet.

"Alright, I could use some food too," Dawn agreed.

The restaurant was filled with people most of whom are trainers. Ash and Dawn stood in a line waiting to get their food while their pokemon kindly reserved a spot for them at a window booth. The second Ash and Dawn came back to their table they took one good look at their delicious food before digging in.

"Mmm. This shuuff is goo" Ash said with a mouthful of Ramen noodles.

Dawn agreed by simply nodding her head.

A trainer sitting alone a couple booths away noticed Ash and his Garchomp and immediately knew who he was. He got up and walked over to meet them.

"Hey there. Mind if I join you two?" he asked politely.

"Sure," Ash and Dawn replied at once.

"You must be Ash Ketchum, Gavin's younger brother," he said. "I saw you on T.V. when your brother was awarded a place on the Sinnoh Elite Four."

"Oh… I see." Ash said. "I'm always there with my brother when he has a really big match, but people don't seem to notice me at all. I'm surprised you did."

"Well prepare to be surprised even more," the trainer said. "I'm actually from Pewter City in the Kanto Region. My name is Brock and I used to be the Pewter City gym leader and now I am a traveling pokemon breeder."

Ash and Dawn were amazed that their new friend was once a gym leader.

"Wow! A gym leader huh?" Ash exclaimed.

"Yeah, I left the gym to follow my dream to become the world's best breeder. So I left my family in charge of the gym while I was out in the world following my dream."

"That's so cool, I've never met a breeder before," Dawn piped in.

"So Brock, how would you like to travel along with us?" Ash asked.

"Would I…I would love to travel with you, but are you sure it's okay if I tag along?" Brock questioned.

"Sure, the more the merrier I say," Ash told his new friend.

"So what are you guys doing here in Jubilife City?" asked Brock.

"We came here for my Pokemon Contest which is being held tomorrow," Dawn answered.

"So you're a coordinator huh? My mom was top coordinator in her days," Brock told her.

"Really!? So was my mom." Dawn added.

"Wow, so we've got something in common," Brock said.

"So what Pokemon do you have Brock?" Ash questioned eager to know what Kanto Pokemon look like.

"Well I bet you've seen one of these pokemon quite a bit given the fact they are found in many regions." Brock told Ash.

He took out two pokeballs and tossed one up in the air. A strange looking pokemon emerged. It was relatively big, almost as tall as Brock himself.

"This is a Gigalith, which is a Rock type pokemon that is native to a faraway region called the Unova Region," Brock told them. "The other one is a Steelix but I can't bring it out while we're in the restaurant because it is too tall."

Whoaa! Ash said amazed at his pokemon, especially Gigalith.

"Did you travel to the Unova Region Brock?" Ash asked.

"No, actually I have a cousin who lives there and when he came to visit me he brought a pokemon egg with him. This Gigalith you see here is the final evolved form of the Roggenrola that hatched from the egg."

Ash, Dawn, and Brock talked the night away about their journeys until they left the restaurant. They booked a room for the three of them at a nearby hotel to sleep for the night. Soon the city fell asleep and the night carried on.

**The next morning at 10:30 a.m. Location: Freedom Hall**

Dawn was getting nervous which was completely normal for a new timer so Ash and Brock tried to comfort her.

The contest was about to begin with an orange haired girl named Zoe going first.

Zoe had entered the contest with her Glameow. The two put on a phenomenal performance. Glameow had used two Shadow Balls that elegantly rebounded of the walls of the stadium until they hit each other giving off beautiful pastel colored light waves and sparkles that surrounded Glameow turning it into a living jewel.

Next up was a unique trainer named Jessilina who entered the contest with her Drapion. Jessilina was unique alright, she had Drapion spin its tail at rapid speeds while she was on top of it spinning like a ballerina with her arms stretched out.

A lot of other coordinators followed with unique performances of their own which were all pretty darn good. But now it was time for Dawn performance and her nervousness was at its peak level.

"Well…here goes nothing," Dawn said getting from her seat. She walked through the long hallway that would lead her onto the stage. She paused at the entrance for a second, closed her eyes and said, "no need to worry."

Dawn ran onto the stage and tossed her pokeball into the air.

"Piplup! Spooootlight!" Dawn yelled in confident voice.

"Pi Piplup." Piplup came out of the ball and did a back flip in the air and landed gracefully on the ground.

"Piplup jump as high as you can while spinning and use Bubble Beam," Dawn called out.

Piplup leapt high into the air spinning magnificently while using Bubble Beam. The bubbles encircled Piplup and then hit each other producing wonderful bubble fireworks. Piplup once again landed gracefully on the ground.

Everyone in the audience cheered loudly for Dawn and Piplup.

Dawn and Piplup soon found themselves back in the room with the other coordinators.

Ash and Brock came in told her how great she was.

"Dawn you and Piplup did a wonderful job out there," Brock commented.

"Yeah you two were totally in sync with each other," Ash added

"Thanks guys, but I still need to make it to the second round so save those nice comments for later," Dawn told them.

"Dawn," an unfamiliar voice called.

Dawn turned around to see the orange haired girl standing behind her.

"Hi. You're Zoe aren't you? I loved your performance. It was beautiful," Dawn told her.

"Thanks. I loved your performance as well Dawn," Zoe replied.

"I've never seen at a contest before. Are you a new coordinator?" Zoe asked with curiosity.

"Yes I am," Dawn answered I started on my journey with Ash about a few days ago.

"I see….." Zoe began but couldn't finish her sentence because she was interrupted by MC Marian.

"And the judges now have the results of the first round," Marian announced.

The T.V. screen showed the faces of seven of the coordinators that were moving to the next round and two of them belonged to Jessilina and Zoe. Dawn was getting worried because there was only one spot left and her face wasn't on the screen. Dawn crossed her fingers hoping to advance.

**And I think I'll end it here. This was one long chapter and I had a fun time writing it. This proves that this format works best for me and it adds a lot more quality to the story. The next chapter will feature the second round which is the battle round. The poll results still show Feebas in the lead. If you want a certain pokemon on the list to be Dawn's next pokemon then please vote for it. The poll will be closed in 4 days so if you haven't voted yet and you would like to now's your chance. The HP company sent me the box so I will be shipping my laptop to their services tomorrow to get my screen to stop fading out and flickering. So I may not get my laptop back for about 10 to 15 days. I know it's a long time to wait but I will still work on my chapters during that time. I will write them down and update them once I get my laptop back. Please review.**


	5. Second Round Match Ups

**Hey guys I'm back. Sorry it took a while; I just got my computer back the day before yesterday and I had to type this all out in one night. I was supposed to update last night but I was too tired to revise my chapter so I put it off until today. Anyway, a couple of the reviewers have asked me a few questions and I would like to answer them right now. A reader asked if this was an Ability Shipping story or a Pearl shipping story. It's actually neither. There will be no romance in this story because the key genre is adventure. I might write a Pearl or Ability shipping story in the future but not now. Also another reader asked if Ash was going to meet all of his friends and Rivals and which region will be next. I will have Ash meet all of his friends and rivals at some point, but he won't be meeting all of them in this story. As for which region is next I have no clue. When I get into the final three chapters I will put up another poll letting you guys decide which region will come next. Also I would like to thank all those who took their time to vote for Dawn's next pokemon. The results ended up with ****_Feebas_**** and ****_Pachirisu_**** tied for the lead. So I will have Dawn catch both pokemon with Feebas coming up first in the next chapter. I'll stop blabbing now and let you read. Hope you enjoy it. Please review.**

**Second Round Matchups**

Dawn stood there staring at the T.V. screen in worry. She was waiting for the result of the last of the eight lucky coordinators that would be moving onto to the next round. The pressure rushed through her body as a race car does on a track. She clutched her fists tighter and tighter to suppress that feeling. Finally Dawn's face appeared on the screen indicating that she would be advancing to the second round. Dawn let out a deep sigh of relief and her worried frown turned into a smile.

"Boy, what pressure! For a second I thought I wasn't going to make it" Dawn said to herself.

"Congratulations Dawn!" Zoey exclaimed.

"Thanks Zoey," she replied.

MC Marian spoke again announcing that the matchups for the battle rounds were on the screen. Everyone turned their attention to the T.V. Jessalina was paired up against a young man and Dawn was going up against Zoey.

Dawn turned to Zoey and said "Well, looks like it's me and you Zoey."

"Yeah…and I know you'll give me a good battle," Zoey replied smiling at Dawn.

The first battle was about to start and it was Jessalina against the young man.

"And we have our first match up. The lovely and energetic Jessalina versus the charming young man, Henry!" Marian announced loudly.

Henry and Jessalina emerged from the hallway and into the contest hall and walked to their ends of the battlefield.

"The second round battles are timed to five minutes during which the coordinators will chip away at each other's points by showing off their moves and style. At the end of each battle, whoever has the most remaining points will advance to the next round. Coordinators you have five minutes. Battle begin!" announced Marian.

"Drapion my darling, come out and play." Jessalina called out to the purple scorpion that was in the pokeball. She tossed the ball towards the battlefield and the purple ogre scorpion pokemon popped out.

On the other end of the battlefield Henry tossed his pokeball up into the air shouting "Alakazam, out you come!"

A large mouse like pokemon with a big mustache with a spoon in either hand came out meditating while levitating in the air. The Alakazam opened its eyes and stared menacingly at Drapion.

"Drapion, let loose your cross poison at that Alakazam," ordered Jessalina. Drapion crossed its arms in front of its face forming a purple x and fired at Alakazam.

"Alakazam, levitate upwards!" Henry called out. Alakazam who was still meditating cross legged rose high into the air avoiding cross poison.

"Magnificent! Alakazam uses its psychic abilities to avoid the attack," Marian commented.

"Drapion attack with Poison Sting," Jessie called out.

Henry quickly made his move. "Alakazam, use Psychic and bring Drapion to eye level.

Drapion opened its mouth to fire but was lifted off the ground. Drapion was steadily being raised to Alakazam at its eye level. While this was going on Alakazam was charging up a Psybeam. Drapion reached eye level to Alakazam when the latter fired a colorful beam of energy at the other hitting it full in the face. Drapion fell out of the air and hit the ground hard.

"Ugggh!" Drapion get up!" Jessie screamed throwing her hands in the air and stomping on the floor with her high heeled boot. "Don't take any more from that Alakazam. Fight back with Poison Sting."

A wave of Poison bullets were shot towards the psychic type.

"Alakazam, Reflect!" Henry ordered his pokemon.

Alakazam formed a barrier around itself causing the Poison Sting to ricochet off the barrier and head back towards Drapion.

"And Alakazam sends Poison Sting back to Drapion!" announced Marian.

Jessalina's points took a major hit.

"Drapion, quick, Poison Sting that Poison Sting!" yelled Jessalina.

Drapion shot out another wave of Poison sting and when both attacks collided purple fireworks flew out with each separate collision.

"Oooo! So pretty!" Jessalina yelled dancing and smiling.

"And Jessalina fights back but she's almost out of time," Marian announced with her voice ringing out throughout the stadium.

Jessalina ordered a series of attacks as she saw this as her only hope to win.

"Drapion use Toxic Spikes, then fire Sludge Bomb followed by Poison Sting and Cross Poison!"

Drapion did as he was ordered, he scattered prickly thorns of poison to the other end of the battlefield. He then shot out a bomb of gunk at Alakazam followed by Poison Sting and Cross Poison. The three attacks collided right in front of Alakazam's face and exploded. Alakazam was thrown towards the ground with the force from the blast.

"Alakazam, quick Teleport," Henry called out.

Alakazam dematerialized and rematerialized right above Drapion landing very hard right on top of it. Drapion who was crushed by the force tried to buck Alakazam off but it was no use. With this Jessalina lost the remainder of her points eliminating her from the contest.

"Jessalina has run out of points, which means that Henry and his Alakazam win and both of them will be moving onto the next round.

Jessalina had a broken stunned look on her face.

"I…l…lost…" Jessalina said to herself. Sighing, she returned Drapion back into her pokeball.

She turned away and sulked off through the long hallway and ended up outside the waiting room where she was confronted by Meowth and James.

"Jessie, you tried your best," James tried to comfort her.

"Yeah, there's always other contests you can win," Meowth added.

Jessie looked at them and said. "Don't worry you two. I can make myself feel better by catching those twerps' pokemon."

"But how are you going to do that?" James asked.

Jessie responded "Simple we leave now and wait on the route north of here until the twerps come by and then we'll steal their pokemon and then it's off to Giovanni. Come on, I'll explain the plan to you as we go."

James and Meowth simply nodded and followed Jessie out of the building.

Back in the waiting room Dawn and Zoey were preparing to head out onto the battlefield. The two young coordinators looked at each other before walking into the long hallway.

As she was walking through the hallway, Dawn was feeling overwhelmed and overflowed with nervousness. After all, this was her first contest battle and she really hadn't done much practicing for it. Dawn knew she could only hope for the best and with that she bit her tongue draining some of the nervousness out of her. As she finally walked out onto the battlefield she heard the audience cheering for her.

"What could go wrong?" Dawn thought in her head. "All of these people and my friends and pokemon are cheering for me. So there's no need to worry."

Zoey had appeared at the other end feeling confident and ready to put on a good show.

"And we have our next match up," Marian's voice boomed throughout the contest hall. "We have two young coordinators, the newcomer Dawn, from Twinleaf Town and her opponent Zoey, from Snowpoint City! There will be five minutes on the clock and like always the coordinator with more points remaining after the five minutes will be moving on to the next round. Trainers, battle begin!"

Dawn drew a pokeball from her pocket and tossed it into the air calling out, "Piplup, spooootlight!"

The little blue penguin emerged from its pokeball covered in shiny stars giving its coat a sparkly blue glow.

On the other end of the battlefield Zoey had tossed her pokeball as well revealing her powerful yet beautiful Glameow.

"Piplup, let's not waste any time! Use Bubble Beam!" Dawn called.

Piplup opened his beak and fired wave of fast paced bubbles at Glameow who stared unfazed at the bubbles that were quickly approaching it.

"Use your tail to launch yourself up into the air," Zoey called.

Glameow did as told and sprang up into the air gaining extra height by using its tail as a spring.

"Now roll in the air towards Piplup and use Iron Tail when you get close," Zoey told the gray and white furred cat. Glameow spun like a ball approaching Piplup with unbelievable speed.

"Piplup, jump and use Peck," Dawn called out to Piplup, but it was too late. By the Piplup had comprehended what Dawn said, Glameow rotated right above Piplup letting an Iron Tail rip right on the back of Piplup's head thrusting Piplup forward into the air. Piplup landed face first halfway down the battlefield. Dawn's points were reduced by a fourth.

"Piplup, get up!" Dawn encouraged the little blue penguin who was still struggling to get up. Piplup stood up and started to peck at the ground.

Dawn started to worry again as she said "Piplup! What are you doing?" Clearly the blow to the back of the head from the Iron Tail had knocked Piplup into confusion, but Dawn wasn't experienced enough to catch that detail. The judges reduced Dawn's points by a half leaving Dawn with only third of her points left.

Ash was paying close attention noticing something wrong about Piplup that Dawn hadn't.

"Glameow, use another Iron Tail!" Zoey ordered as struck Piplup again but this time in the front of the head causing Piplup to snap out of confusion.

"Glameow, charge in and use Shadow Claw," Zoey called out to Glameow ordering another attack.

"Piplup! Now spin and dodge it," Dawn ordered. Piplup spun off to the side and brushed past Glameow avoiding the attack.

"And Piplup makes a comeback," Marian announced.

The judges took off points from Zoey's total reducing her bye one fifth.

"Glameow, extend your tail," Zoey ordered. Glameow straightened its tail hitting Piplup from behind tossing the little blue penguin pokemon out of the air.

The judges took off more points from Dawn, leaving her with only a small fraction of points left.

"Glameow! Quick before Piplup recovers, use Shadow Claw," Zoey called out. "Glameow extended its claw allowing a shadow claw to emerge and reach out to Piplup striking it with power and speed. The attack knocked Piplup out causing Dawn to loose instantly.

"Piplup no!" Dawn cried with a depressed look on her face. Dawn was stunned with the shock of losing as she sighed returning Piplup back into its pokeball.

"And we have our second winner, Zoey," Marian announced.

Zoey felt proud to be the winner but she wasn't paying any attention to anything else but Dawn. She walked over to her with Glameow by her side. She approached Dawn and held out her hand and saying it was a good battle. Dawn took this as a sign of friendship and rivalry and shook Zoey's hand. Then she turned around and disappeared into the long hallway. Dawn returned to the waiting room where she was greeted by Ash and Brock who came to tell her how well she did. She thanked them and then took off running shedding tears from her eyes.

"Whoa Dawn, are you okay?" Ash called after her. Ash was worried; he decided to follow her but was stopped by Brock who knew she needed some time alone.

In the lobby Dawn sat on a chair crying. It was the norm for a beginning coordinator to feel the way she did. Dawn was devastated that her first contest didn't go as planned. She cried for about fifteen minutes until she got a hold of herself. It was at this time when Zoey had walked into the room to check up on Dawn. Zoey walked over to where Dawn was sitting.

"Hey Dawn," Zoey said in a soothing comforting voice. Dawn looked up at Zoey and stared blankly into her face.

"How are you feeling?" Zoey asked.

"Not so good," Dawn replied. This was my first contest and I blew it. How am I ever going to win a contest when there are so many good coordinators like you around?"

Zoey didn't like the sound of that. No matter how flattering that comment was she wasn't going to let Dawn lose confidence in herself. Her eyebrows narrowed down as she stared at Dawn with annoyance.

"Dawn, don't be like that!" Zoey scolded. "Negative attitudes get you nowhere. What you need is some inspiration and advice and I can help you with that."

"Really, you will?" Dawn asked.

Zoey nodded. "Good trainers want to see their friends and rivals at their best," Zoey said. "And that's what I want from you."

As hopeful as this all sounded, Dawn still wasn't feeling better. Zoey noticed this look and pulled up a chair in front of Dawn and sat down in it. She gently placed her hand on Dawn prompting her to look up at Zoey's friendly face.

"Dawn," she said soothingly. "You've just started out as a trainer. It takes time and practice to become successful. Everyone loses their first contest Dawn; that's just the norm. The important thing is to learn from a loss not to be discouraged by it."

Dawn looked down at the gleaming marble floor of the lobby room trying to make sense of the advice Zoey had just given her.

"If it makes you feel any better," Zoey continued. "It took me three losses until I finally won my first contest. It took three failures to learn from my mistakes. Each time I lost I spent time with my pokemon polishing the skills that were dry at first. We put all our hard work into our fourth contest and we won. From there it was uphill for me. I still loose from time to time and that's when I take a break and spend time with my pokemon practicing before entering another contest."

Dawn looked up again feeling much better. A smile also appeared on her face.

"Dawn, your first contest win is around the corner," Zoey said. "But you need to take into consideration what I told you now. And you and I will battle in the finals of the Grand Festival."

Dawn got up from the chair and hugged Zoey. "Thank you so much Zoey, thank you so much," Dawn said shedding tears of happiness.

"You're welcome Dawn," Zoey replied feeling happy that she was able to help her new friend.

"Now let's get back inside to the others," Zoey said. "The last battle is coming and it's me versus the winner of the current battle. You can pick up a few tips from our battle."

Dawn nodded in agreement and followed Zoey back into the waiting room to see Ash and Brock. The boys saw that Dawn was feeling much better and looked at Zoey wondering what her trick was to comfort Dawn.

"It's alright guys," Zoey informed them. "I got it all under control."

Ash and Brock understood and they turned their attention to the ongoing battle. It was Henry and his Alakazam against a boy named Xavier and his Rhyperior. There were ten seconds left when Henry's Alakazam used Psycho Cut as Rhyperior was about to create an Earthquake. The Psycho Cut struck Rhyperior's leg hard causing it to cry out in pain stumbling out of balance.

The timer ran out leaving Henry with more points.

"Henry wins!" Marian announced. "Henry now advances to the final round to battle Zoey. Our final round battle will take place in just a few minutes so sit back and hang tight."

A couple minutes later Henry walked into the waiting room where he was congratulated by the other coordinators.

Henry walked up to Zoey and said, "well… it's just you and me now, let's make this a great battle." He held out his hand which Zoey shook.

"You bet," Zoey said.

Henry then turned his attention to Dawn. "Dawn you did wonderful for your first contest. Don't worry about this loss. Keep training with your pokemon and you'll win sooner or later."

"Thanks Henry," Dawn replied.

Henry simply nodded and walked away.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Marian started. "It is now time for our final round battle.

Zoey and Henry heard this and quickly made their way through the long hallways which were at either side of the waiting room.

Marian continued. "On my left we have Henry and on my right we have Zoey."

Both coordinators walked out onto the battlefield and waited for Marian to finish briefing the rules.

"This battle will be five minutes long and the trainer who has more points left will win. Without further of due, let the battle begin!" Marian said with her booming voice.

"Glameow! Curtain!" Zoey announced throwing a pokeball into the air.

"Alakazam! Out you come!" Henry called throwing his pokeball into the air.

"Glameow! Use Shadow Claw!" Zoey ordered. Glameow extended its claw turning it into a wispy shape of a long claw. It extended across the battlefield towards Alakazam.

"Alakazam, Teleport!" Henry told his pokemon. With that Alakazam dodged Shadow Claw by dematerializing and then re-materializing behind Glameow. Zoey lost few points because of Henry's brilliant tactic.

"Alakazam, use Psychic and lift Glameow off the ground and high into the air," Henry called out.

Glameow was raised all the way to ceiling of the contest hall while Zoey looked on with worry.

"Now drop it really fast and when it gets within range use Psycho Cut," Henry informed his Alakazam. Alakazam did as told and dropped Glameow from the ceiling. When Glameow got within striking range Alakazam was preparing to unleash Psycho Cut.

Zoey needed to find a way as quickly as possible or her points could go down the drain. She was getting even more worried as Glameow closed in on Alakazam and then out of the blue the light bulb in her head went off.

"Glameow, use Protect!" Zoey called out. Glameow instantly formed a shield around itself before colliding with the Psycho Cut that Alakazam had used. The collision was followed by a loud boom and bunch of pink sparkles.

Henry's points dropped by a third and not only had Glameow protected itself from what would have been a devastating combo move but it used Alakazam's moves to look beautiful.

"Amazing!" Marian exclaimed. "Just amazing! Zoey and Glameow went defensive while looking beautiful at the same time. That was truly something to behold." The audience agreed by cheering loudly for Zoey and Glameow.

"Glameow, charge towards Alakazam," Zoey called out. Glameow leapt into action bolting towards the psychic pokemon at an incredibly high speed.

Zoey waited until Glameow was half down the battlefield before giving her next order.

"Now jump and use Dark Pulse while spinning," Zoey called out.

Glameow jumped high into the air and spun really fast to build up extra energy for the Dark Pulse. At last Glameow fired Dark Pulse with all its might hitting Alakazam full in the face causing it to lose balance.

The tension was getting to Henry as he stared nervously at the ensuing battle in front of him.

"Alakazam use Calm Mind to calm down, then use Psycho Cut again," Henry ordered without thinking.

"You couldn't have used Calm Mind at a worse time," Zoey called out Henry from the other end of the battlefield. Zoey had regained her confidence which made Henry even more nervous because he knew what was coming up and he can't do anything about it until Alakazam was done using Calm Mind.

"Glameow, charge in from the air and use Iron tail on Alakazam's head," Zoey called out not wanting to waste any time.

Alakazam closed its eyes meditating to gain energy for its next attack while Glameow was coming in at full speed with a powerful Iron Tail ready to be use.

Glameow who was now within tail length of Alakazam quickly spun around slapping Alakazam right across the forehead throwing it backwards until it landed at Henry's feet. With the shock to its forehead, Alakazam snapped its eyes open crying out loud in pain.

"Wow! That's some strategy! Combining power with an elegant execution of a supercharged Iron Tail was phenomenal way to show off what Glameow is really made of," Marian commented with an amazed look on her face.

Seeing this, the judges subtracted another third of Henry's points leaving him with only a third of his points.

"Alakazam, use Psycho Cut NOW!" Henry ordered frustrated because he was lagging behind with only about a minute left to go.

Alakazam charged at Glameow while building up energy in the spoon in its right hand. Despite its best effort, Alakazam's speed reduced significantly which was due to the shock it received from the Iron Tail

"Glameow, use Metal Claw to intercept and then quickly spin around with another Iron Tail but this time to its feet," Zoey ordered.

Glameow intercepted the Psycho Cut with an equally powered Metal Claw and then whipped around faster than Alakazam could comprehend what was coming next. Glameow landed one shockingly powerful Iron Tail to Alakazam's feet to which Alakazam screamed out in pain.

"AAAAALLLLAAAAAKKKAAAAAZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMM MM!"

Alakazam could take no more as it fainted unable to bear to pain.

"Alakazam, NOOOOOOOOO!" Henry yelled worried.

"And Alakazam is out for the count," Marian spoke into the microphone. "And this means Zoey is this year's winner of the Jubilife Contest."

Henry was devastated as he returned Alakazam. He couldn't believe that he lost his mojo in last two minutes.

Marian then spoke again. "And now Mr. Contesta will present Zoey with her Jubilife Ribbon."

Mr. Contesta got up from his seat at the judges panel and walked over to Zoey and handed her the ribbon and congratulated her.

"Congratulations, young lady. A marvelous performance indeed," Mr. Contesta praised.

"Thank you, sir," Zoey responded with utmost respect.

"Thank you all for being her today," Marian told the crowd. "Remember trainers, there are many contests yet to be held this year in the Sinnoh Region so if haven't won five ribbons yet be sure to win all five to secure your place at the Grand Festival. We will see you all back here next year. Thank you and have a nice day."

**30 minutes later outside Freedom Hall. Time: 5:37 pm.**

Dawn and Zoey walked out of the contest hall to meet Ash and Brock who were waiting at the entrance for them to show up. Dawn was excieted about Zoey's win that she couldn't wait to start training.

"Wow Zoey! That was one awesome battle," Dawn exclaimed.

"Thanks Dawn," Zoey said. "You will win too once you implement what I told you," she said to Dawn smiling.

"And I can't wait to get started!" Dawn yelled with happiness.

Zoey smiled and said "Well guys, I better be going now. I'll see you three at the next contest."

"See ya later Zoey," Dawn said waving to her new rival and friend. With that Zoey walked away.

"I think it's we better go too," Ash advised.

Brock and Dawn nodded and followed Ash out of Jubilife city and onto the next route.

**Sometime later in the day on a path to Oreburgh City.**

Ash, Brock, and Dawn had been walking for about three hours on a path towards Oreburgh City when they decided to stop for the night.

"This looks like a good place to set up camp," Brock said. "There's a forest nearby for firewood, a pond over there for water, and a relatively flat ground to sleep on."

Ash and Dawn nodded in agreement and let out all their pokemon in order to efficiently set up camp. Ash his pokemon set up the tent and Dawn and her pokemon went to fill up the gang's water bottles. In the meantime Brock started to cook a delicious meal for all of them. After about a few minutes Dawn returned with filled up water bottles and Ash had finished putting up the tent.

Brock was impressed by their accurate timing.

"Just in time you two. Dinner's ready to be served," Brock told them as he saw the hungry looks on everyone's faces.

The three and their pokemon dug into their delicious dinner enjoying every bite of it. Everything was going well until they heard and felt a rumbling. Out of nowhere a machine rolled into their campsite. The machine was modeled to look like a metallic version of a Drapion. The machine shot out a giant net which swooped down capturing all of their pokemon except for Brock's Gigalith who was left out because the net wasn't big enough.

The Drapion machine lifted the net up and dumped all of their pokemon into its storage compartment.

"What the….?" Ash said stunned.

"Who's there?" Brock called out

"Yeah come out where we can see you!" Dawn yelled in a demanding voice.

All of a sudden the eyes of the Drapion turned on shinning bright light at the three young coordinators who quickly tried shield their eyes from the light.

The Drapion's head opened a platform hold three figures elevated out.

**Jessie:** Prepare for trouble.

**James:** And make it double.

**Jessie:** To protect the world from devastation.

**James:** To unite all people within our nation.

**Jessie:** To denounce the evils of truth and love.

**James:** To extend our reach to the stars above.

**Jessie:** Jessie

**James:** James

**Jessie:** Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light.

**James:** Surrender now or prepare to fight.

**Meowth:** Meowth, that's right.

"You guys again!" Ash scowled. "What are…"

"Wait!" Brock interrupted "Who's Team Rocket?"

Team Rocket, Ash, and Dawn nearly hit the ground when they heard what Brock just asked.

"You mean you don't know?!" Ash asked surprised.

"They're the infamous Team Rocket who's known worldwide for steeling other people's pokemon for their desire to rule the world with extreme power.

"Yeah and in case you haven't noticed new twerp," Jessie began. "We're here to steal your pokemon."

"With the help of our machine which I built with extensive knowledge of machines.

"And we've decided to call this baby The Mega Drapion X1000 Mach 1," Meowth said with an evil grin on his face.

"Give us your pokemon back!" Dawn demanded.

"No can do ," Jessie teased. "And you can't do anything about it."

Brock stepped in and said, "Maybe she can't, but I can! There's still my Gigalith left."

Team Rocket turned their heads towards Gigalith and stared in shock. Jessie grabbed Meowth by the shoulders and started to shake him violently.

"Meowth! I told you to catch all of them!" Jessie screamed in his ears. James also scolded Meowth. "All means all Meowth. Not all but one."

Meowth jumped to his defense and said, "Alright! I messed up. But even if we capture that lug, there's no room left in the storage compartment.

Jessie and James stopped yelling and checked the control panel which showed the compartment bar vacancy which read zero percent vacant.

"Uggh! Whatever. Now let's get out of here."

With that Meowth gunned the engines and sped towards Ash and his friends.

"Not so fast!" Brock warned. "Gigalith, use Rock Wrecker and aim only at the head of the machine.

Gigalith shot a few rocks at the Drapion machine which collided with its head. The collisions caused the head part of the machine to explode sending Team Rocket blasting off.

"Next time we're going to need a bigger net," Jessie scowled at James.

"Point taken." James replied flying through the air.

"We'll back twerps!" Meowth yelled.

"TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAAAIIINNN!" Team Rocket yelled as they vanished into the evening sky.

Gigalith walked to the machine and used Rock Wrecker once more creating a massive hole in the side letting all of their pokemon back out.

"Thanks Brock,"Ash said. "You and Gigalith were a big help."

"Guess there's a lot more to you than meets the eye.," Dawn replied gratefully knowing that Brock saved all of their pokemon.

"You're welcome! Now shall we finish our dinner?" Brock asked. They all nodded and resumed eating. Once they were done eating, they cleaned up after themselves putting everything back into their backpacks. Finally they fell into a deep sleep knowing that tomorrow would be a long journey to Oreburgh City.

**Note: The next chapter will be a little shorter and will feature Dawn catching Feebas. Also from now on I will be updating chapters only on the weekends in order to do my schoolwork without this getting in the way.**


End file.
